Civil Suit Claims Teacher Sexually Abused Student

Suit Alleges 16 Years Of Sexual Abuse

August 01, 1992|By DAN HAAR; Courant Staff Writer

For 16 years, a onetime student of Gary Booth's was forced into sexual acts in classrooms, driver education cars and elsewhere by the East Hartford teacher and his wife, a lawsuit filed Friday alleges.

The former student, Glenn E. Little, filed the suit in Superior Court in Hartford against Gary Booth and Kathleen Booth, and against the East Hartford Board of Education. The suit seeks monetary damages.

Booth, 50, resigned Friday from his job as a music teacher, one week after he was arrested on federal child pornography charges. He has not been charged with sexual assault, and no charges have been filed against Kathleen Booth.

It was Little, 30, who prompted the criminal investigation when he came forward two months ago, sources close to the case said Friday. The investigation continues.

Little's civil suit spells out a frequent pattern of sexual abuse that began in 1974 when Little was a seventh-grader, and continued until two years ago.

Little disclosed the charges for the first time this year during therapy for psychological problems and drug and alcohol abuse, said his attorney, Jamie L. Mills of West Hartford.

Little's suit alleges that "Gary Booth video recorded and photographed the plaintiff having sex and in sexually explicit poses. Defendants Gary and Kathleen Booth received money and valuable goods from individuals with whom plaintiff was forced to have sex."

Voluminous amounts of sexually explicit photographs were recovered from Booth's house before Booth was arrested, authorities said.

The lawsuit also alleges that Booth forced Little to have sex with him at East Hartford High School during school hours, in a back room and in driver education cars.

At the Mayberry Elementary School, where Booth worked for the past seven years, the teacher "had sex with adult males in his classroom during regular school hours," the lawsuit states.

The suit alleges that it was "widely known" that Gary Booth

took Little and other students to his home most weekends.

Kathleen and Gary Booth forced Little to have sex with them and with other men and women during a period when Little lived in their Shelton home, the lawsuit also alleges.

A woman reached at the Booths' home Friday said "We won't have any comment."

Gary Booth's attorney in the criminal case, Albert J. McGrail, said he would turn the suit over to Booth's private insurance company.

McGrail, of Hartford, has said that Booth will plead not guilty to the child pornography charge. McGrail said federal laws prohibit him from discussing the case.

Sam J. Leone, superintendent of schools in East Hartford, and other school officials have said they had no knowledge of misconduct by Booth until they began investigating reports of Booth's use of obscene language in class this year. Booth was suspended with pay May 20.

Leone said the schools asked the state Department of Education Friday to revoke Booth's teaching certificate.

In his resignation letter, Booth asked for retirement benefits. He began working for the East Hartford schools in 1969 as a driver education teacher.

Mills, and the suit, said school officials should have suspected Booth's alleged behavior, even if they had no knowledge of it.

"It's hard to believe that something like this could go on for so long and not be detected," Mills said. "They have an obligation to supervise Mr. Booth."

Other teachers and a vice principal had found Little locked in a school room with Booth, the lawsuit alleges.

Little, who lives in Rocky Hill with his father, was unavailable for comment Friday.

Other people, including former victims, have come forward to police to corroborate Little's account, Mills said.

"My client personally knows of 20 to 25 people, who were students in East Hartford, who were abused by Mr. Booth," Mills said. She said Little has had no recent contact with other alleged victims.

East Hartford Police Chief James W. Shay would not comment on who has come forward. Police have received more than 50 calls since the arrest, he said.

"We're at the very beginning in this case," Shay said. "We're going to pursue every lead."

Under state law, criminal charges must be filed within five or seven years of child abuse. Little turned 18 in 1980.

But in rare cases, the law may allow the time limit to be extended if the misconduct continued into the victim's adulthood, Shay said.

"We're certainly going to be looking into that and discussing that with the state's attorney," Shay said Friday.

Little has had years of difficulty that his attorney blames on the abuse. The lawsuit was filed under a new state law that allows civil actions until alleged victims turn 35.

Mills and the lawsuit offered the following details:

Little moved to East Hartford with his parents in 1973 shortly before they divorced. A year later he met Gary Booth, a high school driver-education teacher, and was invited to the Booths' house.

The abuse began in 1974 when the Booths assured Little that they would take care of him, and that Gary Booth would be a father figure.

When he was 16 or 17 years old, Little was arrested and sent to jail in Cheshire for nine months. Mills was uncertain of the charges.

Little moved into the Booths house in Shelton when he was released from Cheshire. He enrolled in Shelton High School in 1981, and later earned a graduate equivalency diploma there.

The Booths "used undue influence, threats and duress to prevent plaintiff from notifying anyone of the sexual abuse," the lawsuit states.

The Booths maintained power and control over Little well into Little's adulthood, Mills said.

Little, who is single, was recently discharged from a 45-day treatment program for drug and alcohol abuse, Mills said. He has never held a steady job, or had a long-term romantic relationship, but has had no serious criminal charges filed against him as an adult, she said.